Richard Godwin: You never see our politicians doing culture

Late last year, during an interview with the Guardian, the Culture Secretary Maria Miller was asked a routine question. Which cultural events had she been to recently? Being Culture Secretary and everything?

It’s not exactly “Did you or did you not have a w*** thinking about Margaret Thatcher?” is it? But Miller was stumped. She was going to take her daughter to see The Promise at the Donmar Warehouse, she said, confusing past and future tense. Eventually, she offered: “Three Sisters, a Chekhov play at the New Vic.” At which point, her special adviser interceded.

The outgoing chair of the Arts Council, Dame Liz Forgan, surely had Miller in her sights when she used a parting speech to lambast politicians for their lack of interest in the arts. If the Culture Secretary feels the need to spell out that Three Sisters is a Chekhov play, gets the name of a famous London theatre wrong and needs a special adviser present at all times, it does not say much for this government’s inner life.

David Cameron is happy to be seen at the football, even though the Premier League is the most expensive to watch in Europe, but never at the National Theatre, where the cheapest ticket is £12. Indeed, with a few exceptions — Peter Mandelson, Ben Bradshaw, Chris Smith, spot the trend — you never see politicians at artistic events. Why?

According to David Mellor, who is usually taking up a seat or two at Covent Garden, it’s because too many politicians “are not fully formed as personalities. Either they don’t like the arts, or their spin doctors have told them not to talk about it.”

Conservatives are suspicious of subsidised culture, which many decry as taxes on the poor to entertain the rich (dim, since progressive taxation ensures this is not the case). Meanwhile Labour politicians are frightened to be seen living it up (dim again, as this feeds the idea that arts are only there for the privileged).

Perhaps more understandably, politicians on both sides want to avoid Dame Liz Forgan. But leaving aside arguments about public subsidy, you’d think they’d support the British creative industries as a matter of prestige.

Could the royal family lead by example? The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who both studied history of art, should surely be at the front of the queue to the Manet exhibition at the Royal Academy (clue’s in the name, chaps). But when have they ever been seen at a gallery? To judge by their critical response to that terrible portrait — Kate: “It’s just amazing, I thought it was brilliant.” William: “It’s beautiful, it’s absolutely beautiful” — they could both do with a refresher course.

As for our MPs, the more time they spend broadening their horizons, the better, I say.

Harry’s wargames training

It is interesting to see Prince Harry’s post-Afghanistan interview fêted as a PR triumph. He came across as a lovely chap. But essentially, what the guy said was: “I find my earthly duties so trying that the only time I am truly happy is on the battlefield.” Even more essentially: “I kill to forget.”

Just as telling was his elision of video games and modern warfare. When asked what it was like to pilot an Apache helicopter, he said: “It’s a joy for me because I’m one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think that I’m probably quite useful.” A Taliban spokesman responded that his comments “demean everyone”. Hey, not quite as demeaning as mutilating schoolgirls in the name of Allah, but you can see his point.

The trouble is, for the modern soldier, video games are the most absorbing diversion available. The American charity Operation Supply Drop flies them out to troops in Afghanistan, claiming they not only ease boredom but help reduce the suicide rate among soldiers. If they have the added benefit of improving thumb-eye co-ordination, you can see why they’re encouraged.

It isn’t just great news for Newham that LiveNation has shifted its summer concerts to the Olympic Park, providing a semblance of afterlife for the site. The decision will also benefit anyone who lives or works near Hyde Park and is fed up with public space being fenced off.

But perhaps it will work out best for music fans, who will hopefully never again experience the disappointment of seeing a concert in Hyde Park. I lost count of the time I was tempted along by a promising line-up and the idea of a “festival feel”, only to find the volume was too low, the beer too expensive and the sponsors all over the place. This is somehow expected in the Olympic Park.

Snow? We take it in our stride

On Monday morning, I took one look out of the window and opted to work from home. I advised a visiting friend, who was taking a train to Bristol, to leave at least two hours to get to Paddington.

I soon felt like a plonker. Not only had all my colleagues somehow skidooed into the office; my friend phoned to say he had made it to the station fine and had caught an earlier train. When even First Great Western is working, you have to ask: what on earth has gone right?

It seems that London is finally used to snow. The buses are fine, a little crowded maybe. The Tube hasn’t been any worse than normal. Heathrow doesn’t look much fun but there has been far less disruption than last year, thanks to a new policy of cancelling flights a day in advance. It looks like we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear — and wet gloves.